6 Ups & 4 Downs From Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 3.3 — Shuttle To Kenfori

4. UP — Dressing-Downs Are For The Living

In an episode all about the un-dead, it is no doubt fitting that Ortegas was doing everything to prove her own vitality, even when that clashed with her own best interests (and those of the crew). Her encounter with the Gorn has left its mark. Wedding Bell Blues showed us Ortegas' battle on a personal level. In Shuttle to Kenfori, that struggle spills over into her professional life, also personal by the very nature of a starship.

Trauma manifests itself in different ways, and at different times. If the psych evaluation 'missed it,' then it's perhaps because it wasn't yet there to see. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th Edition) notes that, for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):

Symptoms usually begin within the first 3 months after the trauma, although there may be a delay of months, or even years, before criteria for the diagnosis are met. There is abundant evidence for what DSM-IV called 'delayed onset' but is now called 'delayed expression,' with the recognition that some symptoms typically appear immediately and that the delay is in meeting full criteria.

It had been exactly three months between the events of Hegemony, Part II and those of Wedding Bell Blues. In that sense, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is remarkably accurate in its portrayal of PTSD, if that is, in fact, what Ortegas is experiencing.

Shuttle to Kenfori is also remarkable in its compassion, without shying away from consequences. Ortegas' does get that 'dressing down' from Una, but it is done with kindness, calmly, and with care. It is formal, but it is also coming from a friend.